The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Albizia julibrissin, which was discovered in 1990 as a seedling in a controlled planting of Albizia julibrissin at 337 Akashiba Shinden, Kawaguchi City, Saitama Prefecture, 333 Japan by Dr. Masato Yokoi. The varietal denomination of the new variety is xe2x80x98Summer Chocolatexe2x80x99.
The genus Albizia is included in the family Leguminosae (alternately Fabaceae or Mimosoideae) which comprises about 150 deciduous tree and shrub genera growing in the northern and southern hemispheres. Albizia Durazz. comprises 7 species of deciduous shrubs, many of which possess desirable ornamental characteristics.
Albizia julibrissin is found from Iran to Japan with naturalization occurring in the United States. It generally has alternate, bipinnately compound leaves, up to 50 cm long, with 10-25 pinnae, each with 40-60 leaflets. Leaflets are falcate, oblong, oblique, 0.5-1 mm long, green ciliate and occasionally pubescent on the underside leaflet midrib.
Flowers of Albizia julibrissin are borne light to deep pink, fragrant borne in corybose racemes in the summer. Flower colors are lime green to pink.
The new variety was discovered as a seedling in a controlled planting of Albizia julibrissin and differs from its parent in having burgundy colored foliage and dark pink to burgundy colored flowers. Asexual reproduction of the new variety performed in Kawaguchi City , Japan; Lewisberry, Pa.; Vacaville, Calif. and Irvine, Calif. have confirmed that the distinctive characteristics of the new variety are stable and transmitted to succeeding generations.